Gas apparatus



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Aug. ll, 1.925.

wm y A mwf/ Y Patented ug. lll, i925..

tirait LELAND n. sUMMERs, ornnw YORK, N. Y.

,GAS APPARATUS.

Appucation med May 2,

T0 aZZ 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LELAND' Il. SUirMnns, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and 5 State of New York, have-invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas Apparatus, of which the following is a specilication. s v

This invention relates to a new and improved method and apparatus for the production of gas, and more particularly to a method and means particularly adapted for the combination into a single continuous operation ofthe formation of coke and the production of gas therefrom bythe water gas process. The invention comprises the distillation of .'coal in a coke retort d the immediately subsequent utilization o the coke in a water gas generator. As is well known inthe art of w'ater gas generation, a period of air blast in the .generator .is succeeded by a. period during which steam is directed upon the in# candescent coke.- "The gasis formed during,

' the periodwhen the steam is admitted, the air blast simply serving to bring the coke to the proper conditionof temperature for the production'of the water gas.A

It has heretofore beencustomary in the art to discharge tothe atmosphere. the products voffcombustion resulting from the burning of the coke during the air-blast.` In the present invention this heat resulting from the air blast is utilized for the purpose of heat; ingy a coke retort associated with the 4gas generator. This waste product thus vserves a useful purp coke. v

My invention further contemplates the particular method lof operation ofthe water gas generatorso that the periodof air blast is adjusted and regulated in such mannen as' to form aso-called producer gas rather than to cause .complete combustion-that is, the amount of air admitted during theblast being 'insu'ilicient for complete c'ombustiolrresults in a -large percentage of carbon monoxide. `The products lcarried 0H fromV the generator during the period of air blast therefore possess a heat value made up of the sensible heat of the gas and the lchemical energy represented by the carbon'monoxide. i yVlhenthese products are introduced into the Vheati-iig flues of theco'ke retort, air isad- .mt'ted,.preferably-heated from a regenera# ose in producing the necessary 1921. Serial N0. 465,962.

tor, and the carbon monoxide in the gas is burned to carbon dioxide. I therefore utilize in heating the coke retort both the sensible heat and the chemical energy in the gaseous and vaporous products from thel water gas generator, together with the hot air from the regenerator. Preferably the coke retorts are arranged in a series of small retorts and I preferably provide also a plurality of water gas generators. In such installations one or more of the water gas generators is constantly` upon the air blast, thus producing heat energy for the coking flues. One or more of the. gas generators is also constantly generating gas, that is,A decomposing the steam into its components, hydrogen and oxygen; the oxygen in turn combining with the carbon ofthe coke so that the gas generated is the well-known water gas consisting primarily of' yhydrogen and' carbon mon` 75 oxide, 'together with a small amount of methane and other hydrocarbons. A retort as' results from the formation Qf'thtcoke 1n the coking chambers, and this gas has a relativelyT high heating value o-f from 550 to ritish'thermal units per cubic foot. The heat value of the watergas 'produced representsa thermal energy of about 330 B.,t. u. Thus by mixing three parts ofwater gas to one part ofthe coke oven gas S5' there isprodueed four partsof a gashaving a heating value in excess of` 400 Bf. t. u. per cubic foot. The exact ratio of mixture necessary wil of course depend somewhat A upon the quallty of the coal used in the coke retort and the resulting cokeproduced.

,It is an object of the prsent invention to provide an apparatus and a method of oper- 'ation in which raw coal is coked and the -coke produced is discharged ldirectlyinto watergas generators whereby the high tem- -peratu're of' coke as discharged. from the oven -is utilizedA in a water gas generator. thus making it unnecessary in the generator to heat a cold coke-hed. 4

A furtherobject of the invention consists inthe' utilization of the pro-ducts and heat of combustion resulting from the air blast in the weten/gas generator for the purpose -of providing the heat necessary to make the 10-5 coke. v

An additional object consists in the utilivzation'of all ofthe water; gas generated by the admission of steam upon the incandescent coltetocombine'with all of the gas gen- 110 erated from the distillation of the coal in the from coke retort. Thus my invention makes it possible to convert slack coal or high grade coal .into a mixed gas of high thermal eiiciency. Since all of the coal isfed directly to the coke retort and all-ofthe energy 1n the coal is utilized with the exception' of' radiation and similar accidentallosses, the resulting efficiency of my process and apparatus is very high.

A very important improvement arising waste products are discharged to the atmospher'evbnly after all such products have been utilized to the fullest extent "possible A. :further important fea- ,ture .lies in the fact that the continuous process of coking which is used permits an intermittent discharge of coke at such rate that the water gas generator can .utilize the coke'as discharged.' In this method of colring a retort full of coke is not discharged at*` one time and allowed to cool off, but

small quantities of coke are discharged from the oven at high temperature and at a rate adequate for the requirements for the siii-- ,cient operation of the water gas generator. By the utilization in one installation of a plurality of thegenerators and of the coke retort, it is possible to so regulate the several generators that heat is constantly being supplied to the coke retort and that the generators are'constantly discharging water gas at arate suiicient for mixturewith :the .gases resulting from the coke retort dis- `tillation.

I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention in the accompany-ing draw- -ings', in which.-

' Figure 1 is an elevation partly in section -.Showing my apparatus; and

' panying drawings Qof this chamber nally movable floor thus 'increasing the-compression coke,f as more fully-described f cylinder-9. The floor 7 F1gure'2 is a transverse section ofthe apparatus taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

. The left-hand portion of Figure4 1 showing the' coke' retort is taken substantially :on line-A-A of Figure 2,-while that portion shown in the rightehand part'of Figure Il is taken' substantially on the line B--B of Figure 2.

. .The'fcoking retort shown in the accomis substantially that shown in my' copending application Serial No. 402g944filed August 12, 1920 since issued as Patent 'Number 1,422,634. This retort compriseslthe coallreceiving hopper and thehorizontal retort chamber 6. The floor comprises the longitudiand iin 7 which is operatedj by' shaft 8 and a piston contained in is provided with yagin 47, this iin 'serving to cause greater adhesion of1 'the coke niass to the floor,

ing lapp'Iicati'on referred to.

this invention lies in the fact that the` given the. in my copendlv The coke retort is provided with the discharge chute 22 having a pairof sealed.

doors 23. These doors open above a chute 24 which directs the coke to a revolving screen The finer eolie may pass through the screen to the hopper 26 and conveyor 27. From'the screen the coke passes to the feed hopper 28 of the water gas generator 29,

this hopper being closed by the bell valve 30.

The generator 29 is provided with the inlet head 31 connected to the pipe 32. A steam pipe 33 is connected to this pipe 32, as shown in the drawing. The 'bottom ofthe generator is provided with a sloping ash discharge pit 34 so that the bottom of the generator may be water sealed.

The products formed in the generator are carried ci? by the pipe 35 through the dust .catcher 36 and'thus to the pipe 37. This pipeA 37 isprovidedwith a cross-head 38 to one side of which is connectcda valve 39 and from the upper ange of. which an elbow 40 leads to the valve 41. The other branchv of the cross member 38 may be blanked oil at 42 or connected -as will be describedhereafter. The valve 39 .leads to a cross main43 from which lead a pluvThe valve 41 is connectedto a pipe 50- which leads to the gas collecting main 51A through the regulating valve 52. There is v 'also'provided the pipe 53 which leads from' the end 'of the coke retort 6 to the pipe 50 adjacent the valve 52,l being itself con-A- trolled by-the valve 54. The pipe 37 may be connected to the header 55 by the tee 56,

which header isj'provided with a plurality of pipes 57l leading into the ends of the colic retort heating iiues.

In the operation of my invention, the hopper 5 is lled with coal and the water gas generator 29 is iilled'with coke The coal from the hopper 5 is passed down upon the ram or floor by gravity and is carried 'forwardupon that rarr b v the reciprocatingl motion given theram or floor by the shaft l 8 and cylinder 9. That is, as the ram or Hoor. is pulled outwardly there isa tendency for the coal or coke upon the rain or floor to be compressed against thebulkhead and the solid mass of coal extending upon the ram or floor fromV the outer end of the hopper 5. A certain amount of the finished product, however, upon the inner end of the ram orl floor falls down through the chute 22. As the ram is moved. inwardly again,

fthe coal is moved away from the chute 5 inria-leo and additional coal falls down. This operation is 'continuous at proper v4intervals to secure adequate colring. t 1is pointed outin my Patent,1,422,634 previously referred to, in colring retorts being of relatively great height and small width, the iin 7' aids greatly in this conipression of the coke, due to the increase in eective area it gives the ram.

rllhe cokepassing through the sealed doors 23 and through the screen 25 is fed into the generator feed hopper 28 and thence as needed into the generator 29. Air is blown through the pipe 32and head 3l, being preferably so regulated as to cause only partial combustion of the coke with the formation of 'carbon monoxide. passes up through the dust catcher 36 and pipe 37 and out through the header 43 and pipes 44, the valve 41 being closed. From pipes 44 the gas is distributed to the nozzles 45 which lead to the combustion flue 47. t is lto be understood that the regenerative chamber 46 is duplica-ted above the coking retort, so that air will pass down through the port 49 and through the regenerative flue 46and thus into the chamber 47. This air joins with the carbon monoxide and burns and the products of combustion are carried out through the port 48 and through the regenerative liuc 46 to the outlet 49. These chambers 46 and 46 are intermittently reversed according to a well-known regenerative principle, so that the' air brought in for combustion is continuously heat-ed. When the air blast has been on for a sutlicient length of time in the gas generator, the air is cut '.off and steam introduced from the pipe 33 through the head 31. At this time the valve 39 its/closed and Avalve 41 opened, the water gas generated thus being carried off through y the pipe 50 and valve 52 to the gas main 51.

"It is to be understood that since a plurality oit retorts and generators are combined in a single installation the header 43 is constantly receiving the carbon monoxide and other air blast -products from one or more generators, so that there is no interruption of the coinbustion inthe flues 47 while gas is beinggenerated in any particular generator. Similarly the gas main 5l is constantly being supplied with water gas and this action goes on also without interruption.

llt will be apparent from the drawing and description that` the interposition of the screen 25between the coke chute and the gas generator enablesthe coke to be screened and desired a certain proportion of the coke This carbon monoxide fag or it may be adjusted to produce an excess of coke, or otherwise adjusted to produce an excess of gas. The gas generator is of conntiniioiis type due to the continuous introc duction of coke into the hopper 28, from which it is fed as needed to the generator through the bell valve 30; and the ashes may be continuously removed as necessary through thewater seal 34. The shifting of the air blast and steam blast and ofthe discharge from the generator to the coke retorts and gas main may be accomplished by a sys- .tem of'interloclring valves, as is standard in the art and need not be shown or :tur-

ther described since it in itself forms no part of the present invention.

The particular embodiment shown is simply one apparatus capable of accomplishing my preferred method 0f gas generation and it is to be understood that it is illusl `trative only. The principlemay be utilized in the operation of other devices as covered 'by the following claims.

I claim:

l. Apparatus for producing gasfrom coal comprising a colring apparatus of a type intermittently discharging a part of its con-4 tents, a gas generator associated therewith, a feed hopper upon the generator adapted to receive the coke as discharged from the o ven, and screening means interposed between the oven and generator and adapted to eliminate certain portions of the coke before itl reaches the generator.

2. Apparatus for producing gasfrom coal comprising a coking apparatus of a type intermittently discharging a part of its contents, a gas generator associated therewith, a feed hopper upon the generator adapted to receive the coke as discharged from the oven,

a rotary screen interposed between the oven and generator adapted to eliminate coke below a predetermined size, and a conveyor associated with the screen and adapted to 

